Please see also Part 2 of our China adventure!
 |
| Transporting our bikes to Sander´s plce with an e-scooter |
 |
| E-scooters transport almost everything |
We spent 2 days in Kunming organizing our trip, buying maps and a bus ticket to Shangrila, a town on 3300m above the sea level.
Our bus trip to Shangrila, which is already a Tibetan region, was kind of "once in a life" experience, since it was a bus with beds in it. How to make a bus with as many places as in a normal bus? In China everything is possible:-) we spent 12 hours like sardines in a tin, not to mention the smell of 40 people taking of their shoes... We'll forget about it;-)
 |
| Waiting hall |
 |
| Inside |
 |
| Happy people |
 |
| Walking path |
We have visited an old Monastery...
...and the old town of Shangrila.
In the evening there were people dancing and that was so beautiful, we could not stop watching!
Well until we got hungry and went for a Tibetan hot pot. We had no idea how to eat it or what and how to order, but luckily we were able to watch other people and got a hand from a Chinese couple also eating the hot pot. See the result
Still with a bit of a headache caused by the amplitude of 3300 meters we have decided to begin our cycling adventure in China! Quickly we have found out that the northern part of Yunnan is very hilly and full of yaks!!
 | |
| Drinking yak butter tea, not really our favourite |
Not only the yaks are there. At our first break a big attacked our bikes
This day we have travelled through a few mountain villages and reached a pass laying on 3700m above the sea level!
 |
| Note the elevation 3726 meters above the sea level |
We have noticed the amplitude. In the evening we were very happy to find a perfect camping spot with the most beautiful view to the mountains. We also had a camp fire and ate the left overs from our huge breakfast.
The next day beautiful views again. After 20km we got into a small village which had a shop. We stopped and had a drink and a talk.
Here some views from the incredible rural areas:
A break with a basketball field on 3100m elevation.
Doro also found a typical sun protecting hut used by the local farmers... Or from now on also by cyclists:)
Our goal this day were the sinter terraces, which we reached in the afternoon. Quite hungry we first wanted to eat something, and then we met a motorcyclist who was very excited about our equipment and invited us for lunch. In a few seconds we had heaps of beers on the table and cigars... And no English, so the conversation was quite funny. What a great lunch we had!!
Finally after a few beers we got to the terraces. Very special place, have a look.
The next day was another day in paradise as we used to call this region. Incredible how big the fields are, and nearly everything is done manually by the local farmers. Their smiles and friendliness and the peace they have inside are just incredible.
Cycling down from Haba we already noticed that the plants are getting more tropical: cactus, agave and any walnut trees everywhere, also it got warmer. Our destination today we thought was Daju, but we did not manage to find a place to sleep there and had to cycle an unknown amount of kilometers to an unknown place... And it was late already...
We were very lucky to get to a perfect place in the Middle Tiger Leaping Gorge, the Tibet guesthouse, just before a heavy storm started!
We decided to stay a day in Tibet guesthouse and went for a hike to the Yangtze river, the place called tiger leaping gorge, the middle one. It was absolutely stunning! The power of the river is so strong that you can feel the rocks vibrating, while you are walking or sitting there.
The next day we went to Lijiang, and old city, but before we had a nice climb through the mountains to get there... At the top we bought some honey from a local woman.
Lijiang is a nice place, but already very touristic and prepared for the Chinese taste. We had a coffee there and a walk around the city, but it was not authentic compared to Shangrila.
The next day we started our ride down: 40kilometer descent, very pleasant with a visit in vivid Heqin!
But then we wanted to go west through the mountains... And we got what we wanted;-) A 1000 meters climb to 3100 meters elevation again.
Tired and hungry we tried to find a hotel or some place to eat, but up there in the mountains it was not possible... We ended up another 100 meters higher outside of the village in our tent with 4 tomatoes and a package of chips...
The next morning we ate one tomato and drunk a small package of milk and went down. Wonderful views and a truck with stones were our companions:-)
After the descent which was also quite demanding we were very happy to get to the nearest town and EAT something!! More than that, it was very delicious!
On that day we had some climb up, but nothing compared to yesterday's ride and we got our reward: Shaxi, the place in the west, which was the reason for going this though road was beautiful! Amazing old town with so much flair and only a few tourists! We loved it!
Our ride from Shaxi to Dali was also great: all the time along the river, up and down and the views! Phantastic! Also the people, very busy with rice, water buffalo or goats, very friendly and also here: their smiles are unforgettable!!
We enjoyed the ride so much, that we had to stay in a tent this evening:-) taking pictures, having breaks in the loveliest places takes also time:-) we found a place to pitch our tent in a stone winning place next to a river.
Dali has its flair, but it is a very busy, popular town to be visited, so there is not a lot of peaceful sitting in a coffee place.
Still we had some good time, and met a great cook there who invited us for Dali plum wine (very strong) and gave us some sweets for the next day.
Lovely people you meet in Dali as well as all over Yunnan! So different than the perception of the Chinese back home. Those people are friendly, open and very busy, working hard on their fields, building houses. Still we never had a feeling they are in a hurry, there is always time for a chat or a lovely smile with a stranger on a bike. Just another day in paradise!
